Priority: Gaia
by TheScreamingViking
Summary: The Reapers are here and Shepard needs every war asset she can get her hands on. That includes SOLDIER, regardless of what Shinra might have to say about it.


_A/N: This was an idea I had that wouldn't leave me alone. This isn't connected to _One Last Mission _or anything else.  
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_Disclaimer: Not mine. _

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**Codex: The Midgar Incident, 2178**

In the year 2178 an asari research team was exploring uncharted planets on the edges of council space. Led by the highly respected Matriarch Zaithia, they were searching for lost Prothean ruins. Instead they found a thriving Human world.

The human planet, dubbed 'Gaia' by its local population, had recorded history dating back over two thousand years. The people of Gaia had never heard of Earth.

The research team immediately contacted the Systems Alliance. The Human high command was baffled by the existence of the 'Sister World', as the media had taken to calling it, which apparently predated the Roman Empire. Any explanations seemed forever lost until certain documents surfaced. They belonged to the Salarian Special Tasks Group and were leaked by an unknown source.

The documents revealed the highly classified Operation: Bolide. Archived for almost two millennia, it was a research experiement on the potential 'usefulness' of humanity. Several hundred humans had been taken from Northern Europe and Eastern Asia and transported to the planet Gaia. There they were observed by Salarian scientists as the humans slowly built a society on the new world and interacted with the indigenous people. The purpose of the experiment was to document how humans reacted upon discovering a different species, in this case the planet's native people, the now extinct Cetra. Depending on the experiment's result the Salarian Union had planned to uplift humanity as a client species. The operation was cut short however when the Krogan Rebellions broke out and the uplifting of primitive species was no longer considered viable. All evidence of the experiment was erased and the humans on Gaia forgotten.

The Systems Alliance was outraged at what the documents revealed. The Salarian Union acknowledged the operation and offered reparations. The reparations were accepted and the Alliance expressed intentions of protecting the 'Sister World', claiming Gaia as Earth's first colony, regardless of Salarian involvement.

A summit was held with Gaia's government, the Shinra Corporation. The Systems Alliance sent diplomats to the capital city of Midgar. There, along with Matriarch Zaithia who had remained as the Citadel Council's representative, they attempted to establish a peaceful alliance with the new human home world. While the Shinra Corporation was demanding and openly unfriendly to aliens, progress was made. A mutually beneficial agreement was expected to be reached within a few days when Matriarch Zaithia went missing. Shinra claimed no knowledge of the beloved leader's disappearance from her Midgar apartment and the Systems Alliance actively aided the Asari high command in searching for her.

Suspicious of the disappearance, the Citadel Council secretly ordered Spectre Nihlus Kryik to investigate the Matriarch's disappearance. Two weeks later the Spectre discovered the mutilated remains of the asari in a laboratory hidden beneath Midgar where Shinra scientists had been conducting experiments on the Matriarch. During his investigation Spectre Nihlus shot and killed the head of Schinra's science department, one Professor Hojo, who had ordered the kidnapping and personally carried out the majority of the experiments.

When the Matriarch's fate became public the Asari high command was furious and threatened war on the small planet. Shinra refused to answer the accusations and made no apology. The Systems Alliance swiftly disavowed any knowledge of the kidnapping and publicly renounced Shinra. Fear of political backlash from the Citadel over the 'Midgar Incident' made the Alliance Gaia's most vocal detractors.

Only at the insistence of the Salarian and Turian Counsellors was a war prevented. Instead all connections with Gaia were cut and the planet quarantined by council forces.

No contact has been made since.

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**2186 – The Reaper War Begins **

"Good job on Sur'Kesh, Shepard." said Admiral Hackett, as staunch and unreadable in hologram form as the man was face to face. "I understand you're on route to investigate the lost Krogan patrols by the Rachni relay. I'll need you to make a detour."

"Very well sir, I have some time before Mordin will be finished synthesising his cure. What do you need me to do?" asked Shepard. She had the utmost respect for Admiral Hackett; even as a Spectre she obeyed his orders without question.

"I'm sending you the co-ordinates to Gaia. I need you to recruit their enhanced military division."

Correction: she _usually_ obeyed his orders without question.

"_That_ Gaia? The lost colony? The Asari High command will have a fit."

"You're making deals with the Krogan, Shepard, the Asari are already having a fit. There are reports of Reapers nearing the area, it's now or never. From what we saw before the quarantine, Shinra have artificially enhanced super soldiers. We could use that." he sighed. "Gaia won't stand a chance on its own."

"Alright." She said, "I'll do what I can Sir."

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The negotiations were not looking promising.

Stepping out of the shuttle onto the tarmac Shepard was followed by Garrus, Javik, and Liara. She was trying to provide the image of a united front that Gaia was being invited to join. She suspected they came across more like a ragtag group of misfits.

Shepard had brought Liara with her knowing how hostile Asari relations were with this planet. She hoped that maybe her presence could help pacify the High Command when this became public. But what weight did the daughter of Benezia carry in the midst of a Reaper invasion?

As always, Shepard would hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Which was why, despite this being a peaceful negotiation over a proposed alliance, her entire team was armed to the teeth.

A measure she considered wise when she saw Shinra's delegation approaching. Along with the overweight president Shinra and the vice president (Rufus Shinra, the president's son apparently) there were two tall men in leather coats with swords on their backs who carried themselves in a way that screamed military. Standing a little behind Rufus Shinra there was a man wearing a tailored black suit who clearly had at least one gun on him.

Shepard had read all the intel Hackett had sent about the planet and its government. The impression she had gotten was not flattering. Even discounting the abduction of the Matriarch, the President and his entire corporation came across as greedy and racist. The greedy part didn't faze her but she took serious issue with the racism. She didn't put up with it from Ashley or from the Illusive Man even when he was paying her bills, she wouldn't put up with it now.

They were meeting on an airstrip, next to a military base named Junon. Apparently Shinra had taken the quarantine as a personal insult; they refused to let the outsiders inside any building or even leave the tarmac. Shepard almost preferred it this way; they could cut all the forced pleasantries and get to straight to business. The Reapers weren't going to wait all day, after all.

"Let's get to business shall we?" the president said, with a greasy and unpleasant smile. "I am President Shinra, this is my vice president and these are my Generals, Sephiroth and Genesis Rhapsodos."

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance. These are my allies." the names and ranks of her crew wouldn't mean anything to them.

"Just a commander?" the president sneered.

"I'm also a Council Spectre." she dead panned. It had been a quite a while since her name hadn't been introduction enough. Given the looks they shared, she assumed they remembered the last Spectre to pay them a visit. Nihlus had apparently left quite a trail of bodies.

"So, you've come crawling back. Begging for aid are we?" asked the President with his arms crossed.

"No, we're offering you aid. At a price." Shepard had talked her approach over with Liara and Garrus. She hoped the gamble would pay off, she knew she was no politician.

"Ha! Do we look as though we need aid?" said the president, gesturing around them at the airplanes and artillery.

"The enemy hasn't arrived yet, though you might have seen their scouts on the edge of your skies." Reaper ships had been spotted in the system. Apparently Gaia wasn't enough of a threat to necessity the swift and brutal attacks that Earth and Palaven had suffered.

"The galaxy is at war." Shepard continued, "You haven't been hit yet, but you will soon. An ancient race of synthetics has surfaced from dark space and is intent on wiping out all organic life. We call them the Reapers." Shepard hated delivering this news. She had resented it back when the Reapers were just a legend and the council thought she was crazy. Now, with untold casualties mounting every day, she wished she really had been crazy.

"Your planes and cannons won't stand a chance against them." She continued, "None of your artillery is effective beyond your own atmosphere. That cannon," Shepard nodded at the massive piece of hulking weaponry that pointed out over the ocean, "is fixed at a horizontal angle. Orbital bombardment could easily annihilate your entire planet in less than an hour.

"Hundreds of worlds have been hit already. We're gathering every fleet and army in the galaxy regardless of previous politics to stop this threat. If you want our ships to protect you, we ask for your ground troops to fight alongside us."

"You want some of my SOLDIERs?" Shinra asked with narrowed eyes.

"Every last one." She said.

They seemed taken aback by Shepard's blunt request.

"This isn't a minor nuisance, some irritating neighbour who wants your resources." she said "This is an enemy who completely outclasses you and is determined to massacre us all. There can be no half measures."

Having said her piece, Shepard waited for the reaction. The president was looking at her like she was going to steal the silverware; Rufus Shinra and his bodyguard looked thoughtful. The two Generals were both expressionless.

"Say I believed you," the president began, "about these Reapers, about all of it. If I lend you my SOLDIERs what will you give me in return?"

"The chance to see another day. We will protect this world as we will our own colonies."

"That's it? I let you take my best fighters off world and in return I'm supposed to just believe that you'll look out for us?" he asked looking outraged. Shepard heard the tone of a cunning businessman looking for a bargain and she wasn't going to haggle.

"Either that or you can face the Reapers alone. Without us you and your SOLDIERs will die together in the harvest."

"What do the Reapers want?" asked the vice president, speaking up for the first time.

"They don't want anything. They appear every fifty thousand years or so and wipe out all advanced life. Then they retreat into dark space, leaving the animals that are left to develop into the dominant species to be harvested in the next cycle."

"But why?" He seemed intrigued at the notion.

"It doesn't matter" Javik stepped forward. "They will not leave a single man, woman, or child breathing unless they are destroyed."

"You can't know that!" exclaimed the president, "There would be no profit in it, it's just a waste of resources."

"I do know that. I am Prothean. My people were the dominant species of the last cycle. They are all dead. If you do nothing you will join them."

The vice president scoffed "So you're fifty thousand years old?"

"Yes."

"Javik was a Prothean General. He was placed in cryo-sleep at the very end of the last cycle. We awoke him to help fight the Reapers." said Shepard, trying to get the conversation back on track.

The president looked contemplative. "Given the value of my SOLDIERs, I'll order them to fight for you if you give us a fleet."

Garrus snorted, Javik laughed. Shepard did everything she could to not smile, she wasn't entirely successful.

"No." She wasn't even going to discuss something so absurd. The President didn't seem to appreciate the mockery.

"SOLDIER is the backbone of my Empire! You have no idea what you're asking for-

"Neither do you. Nothing you say will convince me to trade an entire fleet of our ships for one division of ground troops. I don't care how enhanced they are. I wouldn't accept that offer no matter how desperate I was."

"Who are you to even make that call? You're just a commander! I bring my best Generals with me and I am met with a lowly officer and a bunch of alien freaks?" he spat, eyeing Javik distrustfully. Garrus and Liara, neither of whom had looked particularly impressed beforehand were now both scowling. Javik rolled his eyes and muttered something about primitives.

"You're right." said Shepard, pointedly ignoring the insult to her crew. "This is a matter for high ranking military officials, which is why the Alliance sent a Spectre. Perhaps_ your_ Generals have an opinion on the matter?" She didn't care for the President's outrage.

The silver haired General, who had one hell of a poker face, spoke first.

"SOLDIERs are ground troops. What makes you think we'd be useful against these Reapers? According to you descriptions they fight from orbit."

Shepard always did prefer dealing with military personnel.

"Each Reaper is a living ship and they prefer to fight from space. The Reaper's first attack is almost always against civilian populations. They send their flagships to occupy your defensive forces while the dreadnoughts focus on heavily populated areas. They don't just kill however; they transform their victims into hulking shock troopers to be unleashed on the next population. Every one of your cities that falls is an army that will be unleashed on the next."

The President was looking a little ill. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. General Sephiroth just nodded.

"A cunning tactic. I imagine it must shatter morale." General Rhapsodos said with disgust in his voice.

"Yes it does." Shepard's composure remained steady, no matter how much she detested the subject matter. "The Reaper shock troops, husks we call them, aren't technically alive. They're fused with reaper tech so they don't fall as easily as a person would. They don't bleed. They don't sleep. They don't feel pain, regardless of what the screaming face would have you believe. And there are billions of them.

"To answer your question General; yes, a lot of the fighting will happen in space as it's the only way to truly stop them, but there are plenty of battles happening on the ground."

"I see."

"Well. Good luck with that." the president finally said with a nod that said he'd made his decision. "Be sure to let us know how it all works out." he said, with a bitter smile.

"Sir, I think we should help them." said Sephiroth.

"SOLDIER's assistance would no doubt earn both their trust and gratitude." added Rhapsodos.

"No. I'm not putting my SOLDIERs into the hands of aliens and humans who look down on us. If this war isn't just a ruse to steal our secrets then they'll crawl back later begging for help. In the meantime, I am content to wait."

Shepard sighed. How had this pathetic profiteer gotten his hands on an entire planet?

"I won't be making this offer a second time, president Shinra." she said.

"Not interested."

"Fool." Javik muttered.

"Then you have my sympathy." She had tried, she couldn't force them to co-operate. The president would regret his decision soon enough.

Shepard turned her back and began walking to the shuttle.

A gunshot rang out.

Instantly Shepard's team all had their weapons out. Liara and Javik's biotics flared in defensive barriers.

The president was sprawled face first on the ground, half his head blown off.

The man in the tailored suit was putting his gun back in his jacket.

Both of Shinra's Generals were staring at him in shock. The younger Shinra didn't look surprised in the least.

Instead, he stepped over his father's cooling corpse as though nothing had happened.

"As Shinra's new president I accept your offer of aid and in return will lend you the entire SOLDIER division for this war against the Reapers. I hope that this alliance will be the first of many mutually advantageous arrangements."

Javik laughed.

"Is that what passes for an election around here?" Liara asked quietly.

"Your opinion, General?" Rufus asked the now more collected Sephiroth.

He gave Rufus a measuring look.

"A wise decision, Mr President."

Rufus looked very pleased with himself. Shepard was glad she had no political ambitions.

She extended a hand, which the new president shook. "I appreciate your… co-operation." she said, looking down at the corpse. Killing your own father for a promotion. Well, it was that or lose a planet to the Reapers, so she wasn't going to complain.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you like, I'm looking to improve my writing and all comments and critiques are welcome :)_

_Concerning 'One Last Mission', __it hasn't been abandoned Im just taking my own sweet time. Updates will happen eventually. _

_Next time: There probably wont be a next time for this fic, as this was mostly to silence the plot bunnies. Inspiration might attack again though, so we'll see._


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